I was sad to learn of this incident where a church near Jakarta, Indonesia, was pelted with urine, drain water and rotten eggs. The attackers outnumbered the congregation by six times. It has been more than a week since the incident and police have not made any arrests although it is clear who are those involved.
It would be too simplistic to think that the Indonesian police are incompetent. Perhaps they are being held ransom by some Islamist groups who have become stronger than the state in the era of unbridled democracy in Indonesia where everyone holds everyone at some sort of a knife point.
I hope we don't go down this route where the majority, Christians, Buddhists or even secularists, can lord over the minority and where democracy is the absolute of the majority with no consideration for other views. On the other hand, if we have too strong a state, religious bodies cannot play an active role in society.
Religious bodies do have a role to play in providing psychological strength and social assistance. Most of all, I would argue that we have a role in politics, but not so much in parliamentary representation and open endorsement of certain parties and politicians. This could be sensitive in a multi-religious society such as Singapore where intentions and words can be twisted for one's ends and feelings inflamed.
As individuals, we can exercise our votes along the values of Bible, and Church leaders can influence policy-making in their private capacities or asking for closed-door forums with the authorities. Most of all, in periods of crisis and turmoil, religious leaders have a duty to urge for calm and rational actions.
But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Matthew 6:33.
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Friday, May 25, 2012
Islamst Mob Throws Urine at Church in Indonesia
Pastor receives death threat; no arrests so far
By Dan Wooding
Founder of ASSIST Ministries
JAKARTA, INDONESIA (ANS) -- Compass Direct News (CDN) is reporting that no arrests have been made since 600 Islamists hurled bags filled with urine and ditchwater at about 100 members of a church last week and threatened to kill its pastor.
Police looked on as the mob attacked the Philadelphia Batak Christian Protestant Church worshipping on the street in Bekasi, near Jakarta in West Java Province, on Thursday (May 17), church attorney Saor Siagian told Compass by phone.
The mob, which included the chairman of the Bekasi chapter of the extremist Islamic Defenders Front, began to throw urine, ditchwater, rotten eggs, stones and dirt when Pastor Palti Panjaitan came to address the congregation.
CDN said that the church had to disperse, Siagian said. Pastor Panjaitan told local media he received a death threat and has filed a police complaint. Authorities had asked the church, part of the Huria Kristen Batak Protestan denomination and located in Jejalen Raya village, to worship at a site about six miles from church land, Siagian
said.
“The church applied for a permit to construct its house of worship five years ago as mandated by law. The local administration asked it to shut down in December 2009,” said the story. “The Supreme Court overruled the administration’s decision in July last year, saying the church was eligible for a permit, but due to pressure from Islamist groups, Bekasi officials insist the congregation meet elsewhere.”
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
Anger is moment, favour is for life
The title of this blog is taken from:
For His anger is but for a moment, His favor is for life; Weeping may endure for a night, But joy comes in the morning.
(Psalm 30:5)
Lord have mercy on our past transgressions. Amen.
Mercy is something that is immensely hard to learn as it requires us to subjugate our ego. Many people only think of mercy as being kind when one is right and the other party is wrong. But mercy is more than that. Mercy is also trying to understand the "right-ness" in the wrong that we perceive. Only then we can understand what is real forgiveness and humility before Jehovah.
Reading the interview of former Catholic priest, Edgar D'Souza, made me sit up. The author of article even called him a gentleman. No gentleman in Christ would cast aspersions publicly (without concrete proof) on the Archbishop Emeritus Gregory Yong who had passed on before us. It is not that Archbishop is almighty and can do no wrong, but I am taught that we do not criticise our church leaders in public and even more so when they have gone into the arms of Our Father and can no longer rebut the criticisms.
After the Marxist arrests, Archbishop met former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew who sanctioned the arrests. The details of the meetings are murky. But after the meeting, Archbishop withdrew the statement he had wanted to issue, which can be found here.
Archbishop perhaps withdrew the statement because he didn't want to go against the government. But he might also have seen some materials which made him doubt the intentions of those arrested otherwise he would have defended their innocence to the end as many knew him to be an upright leader.
It was also interesting to note that in Jul 1986, almost a year before the Marxist arrests of 1987, the government had briefed the Archbishop that some Catholic organisations and publications were being used for subversive activities. Did that serve as a warning? Or things quickly took a turn for the worse?
Let's not be too quickly to judge and criticise. There are many information still not released by the government and I will urge them to do so expeditiously.
For those who are still angry after 25 years of the Marxist episode, it is good for the country that they come out to share their stories so that the younger generations can know what our own history. For those reading, I hope we can weigh both sides of argument to see the merits in each of them and how to move forth from this episode.
"Make no friendship with an angry man, and with a furious man do not go, lest you learn his ways and set a snare for your soul." (Proverbs 22:24-25)
Lord have mercy on our past transgressions. Amen.
Mercy is something that is immensely hard to learn as it requires us to subjugate our ego. Many people only think of mercy as being kind when one is right and the other party is wrong. But mercy is more than that. Mercy is also trying to understand the "right-ness" in the wrong that we perceive. Only then we can understand what is real forgiveness and humility before Jehovah.
Reading the interview of former Catholic priest, Edgar D'Souza, made me sit up. The author of article even called him a gentleman. No gentleman in Christ would cast aspersions publicly (without concrete proof) on the Archbishop Emeritus Gregory Yong who had passed on before us. It is not that Archbishop is almighty and can do no wrong, but I am taught that we do not criticise our church leaders in public and even more so when they have gone into the arms of Our Father and can no longer rebut the criticisms.
Edgar D'Souza said, "Many of my priest and lay friends expressed deep disappointment with the Archbishop and felt he was a weak leader and he “abandoned” the detained Church workers. They felt he was intimidated to take the steps he did."
"I felt very betrayed by Archbishop Yong. I knew I could no longer work as a priest with him or in Singapore. I also realised on a personal level that I loved a Singapore woman lawyer (with whom I had a long friendship) and wanted to marry her."
After the Marxist arrests, Archbishop met former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew who sanctioned the arrests. The details of the meetings are murky. But after the meeting, Archbishop withdrew the statement he had wanted to issue, which can be found here.
Archbishop perhaps withdrew the statement because he didn't want to go against the government. But he might also have seen some materials which made him doubt the intentions of those arrested otherwise he would have defended their innocence to the end as many knew him to be an upright leader.
It was also interesting to note that in Jul 1986, almost a year before the Marxist arrests of 1987, the government had briefed the Archbishop that some Catholic organisations and publications were being used for subversive activities. Did that serve as a warning? Or things quickly took a turn for the worse?
Let's not be too quickly to judge and criticise. There are many information still not released by the government and I will urge them to do so expeditiously.
For those who are still angry after 25 years of the Marxist episode, it is good for the country that they come out to share their stories so that the younger generations can know what our own history. For those reading, I hope we can weigh both sides of argument to see the merits in each of them and how to move forth from this episode.
"Make no friendship with an angry man, and with a furious man do not go, lest you learn his ways and set a snare for your soul." (Proverbs 22:24-25)
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